Improving Crop Resistance to Abiotic Stress

The latest update on improving crop resistance to abiotic stress using the advanced key methods of proteomics, genomics and metabolomics. The wellbalanced
international mix of contributors from industry and academia cover work carried out on individual crop plants, while also including studies of model organisms that can then be applied to specific crop plants

Dr. Narendra Tuteja did his M.Sc., Ph.D and D.Sc. in Biochemistry
from the Lucknow University in 1977, 1982 and 2008, respectively.
He is fellow of the Academies of Sciences: FNASc. (2003), FNA
(2007), FASc. (2009) and FNESA (2009).
Dr. Tuteja has made major contributions in the field of plant DNA
replication and abiotic stress signal transduction, especially in
isolating novel DNA/RNA helicases and several components of calcium
and G-proteins signaling pathways. Initially he made pioneer
contributions in isolation and characterization of large number of
helicases from human cells while he was at ICGEB Trieste and
published several papers in high impact journals including EMBO J.
and Nucleic Acids Research. From India he has cloned the first
plant helicase (Plant J. 2000) and presented the first direct
evidence for a novel role of a pea DNA helicase (PNAS, USA, 2005)
in salinity stress tolerance and pea heterotrimeric G-proteins
(Plant J. 2007) in salinity and heat stress tolerance. Dr. Tuteja
has reported the first direct evidence in plant that PLC functions
as an effector for Ga subunit of G-proteins. All the above work has
received extensive coverage in many journals, including Nature
Biotechnology, and bulletins all over the world. His group has also
discovered novel substrate (pea CBL) for pea CIPK (FEBS J. 2006).
He has already developed the salinity tolerant tobacco and rice
plants without affecting yield. Recently, few new high salinity
stress tolerant genes (e.g. Lectin receptor like kinase,
Chlorophyll a/b binding protein and Ribosomal L30E) have been
isolated from Pisum sativum and have been shown to confer high
salinity stress tolerance in bacteria and plant (Glycoconjugate J.
2010; Plant Signal. Behav. 2010). Recently, very high salinity
stress tolerant genes from fungus Piriformospora indica have been
isolated and their functional validation in fungus and plants is in
progress. Overall, Dr. Tuteja?s research uncovers three new
pathways to plant abiotic stress tolerance. His results are an
important success and indicate the potential for improving crop
production at sub-optimal conditions.

Dr. Sarvajeet Singh Gill did his B.Sc. (1998) from Kanpur
University and M.Sc. (2001, Gold Medalist), M. Phil. (2003) and
Ph.D (2009) from Aligarh Muslim University.
Dr. Gill has several research papers, review articles and book
chapters to his credit in the journals of national and
international repute and in edited books. He has co-edited four
books namely Sulfur assimilation and Abiotic Stress in Plants;
Eutrophication: causes, consequences and control; Plant Responses
to Abiotic Stress, and Abiotic Stress Tolerance published by
Springer-Verlag (Germany), IK International, New Delhi, and Bentham
Science Publishers, respectively. He was awarded Junior Scientist
of the year award by National Environmental Science Academy New
Delhi in 2008.
Presently with Dr. Tuteja, Dr. Gill is working on heterotrimeric G
proteins and plant DNA helicases to uncover the abiotic stress
tolerance mechanism in rice. The transgenic plants overexpressing
heterotrimeric G proteins and plant DNA helicases may be important
for improving crop production at sub-optimal conditions.

Dr. Renu Tuteja did her B.Sc. (1975) and M.Sc. (1977) from Lucknow
University and Ph.D. (1983) from Kanpur University.
Dr. Tuteja has made significant contribution in understanding the
role of helicases in the DNA and RNA metabolism in malaria parasite
and human. She has reported and characterized a number of novel
helicases from malaria parasite and human. Recently she has
reported the genome wide analysis of helicases from malaria
parasite and their comparison with the human host. This work was
published in Cell Cycle. She has shown that eukaryotic initiation
factor 4A is a dual helicase, essential for the growth and survival
of malaria parasite (Journal of Molecular Biology). Her recent work
on an RNA helicase from malaria parasite revealed that it is
involved in splicing. This work was published as cover image
article in Archives in Biochemistry and Biophysics. Her helicase
work has received coverage in journals, including a cover image
article in Archives in Biochemistry and Biophysics and News and
Views article in Cell Cycle. She has characterized novel signal
peptidase from malaria parasite and reported its modulation by
phosphorylation. Using bioinformatics approach she has reported the
existence of all the components of protein translocation pathway
and mRNA transport pathway from malaria parasite. Recently she was
awarded the Top Cited Paper Award from FEBS J. for one of her
article on Malaria published in 2007. Her work has demonstrated
novel functions of eIF4A, Ku autoantigen and nucleolin as DNA
helicases. On the basis of her interesting discovery of Ku as a
helicase, a double-strand break repair model has been proposed in
many text books.
Dr. Tuteja became the first Indian Scientist from India to have
published in Nature Genetics (13, 1996) and that also cover image
article on helicases. Her recent interests are to understand the
basic biology of malaria parasite in order to identify novel drug
targets. Her research indicates novel ways to control malaria by
inhibiting helicases. Till to date she has published a total of 79
papers in journals of international repute.

“However, the collection of case studies occupying volume
2 is unusually large and potentially the most considerable benefit
of the book to researchers, teachers or students.”
(Experimental Agriculture, 1 March 2013)

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